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Value transfer method

Benefits transfer (BT), or more generally - value transfer (VT) - refers to applying quantitative estimates of ecosystem service values from existing studies to another context. You take value estimates from a study site, and apply them with adjustments to a policy site where time or resource constraints preclude the possibility of doing a primary valuation study. In the VT literature values have generally been understood to be monetary estimates of benefits or costs (Johnston et al., 2015). Often VT is used for screening in a benefit-cost analysis of project or policy alternatives. Value transfer is not one specific method, but a continuum of approaches depending on the information available